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THIS WEEK: The Reign of the Superboys reaches its conclusion in the landmarkAction Comics#1100!
Note: the review below may contain spoilers.If you want a quick, spoiler-free buy/pass recommendation on the comics in question, check out the bottom of the article for our final verdict.
Action Comics #1100
Writers:Mark Waid,Joshua Williamson,Sophie Campbell, andDan Slott
Artists:Skyler Patridge,Ryan Sook,Daniel Sampere,Dan Mora, andLucas Meyer
Colorists:Ivan Plascencia,Ryan Sook,Alejandro Sánchez,Tamra Bonvillain, andGiuliano Peratelli
Letterers:Steve Wands,Becca Carey, andDave Sharpe
Cover Artist:Ryan Sook
The past six months of Superman family comics have been an entertaining time for the line. With Superman himself out of the picture, each series has shone a spotlight on one of the multiple Superboys of the DC Universe. The aptly-named “Reign of the Superboys”, a title homage to the post-Death of Superman line of Superbooks, reaches its conclusion with this week’sAction Comics#1100, an oversized issue that brings all of the Superboys together under one set of covers, and that sees the return of the Man of Steel himself.
The opening feature of the issue, “Mission Failure,” features the classic iteration of Superboy, a young Clark Kent operating out of Smallville and still getting the hang of superheroing. This Superboy has been the star ofActionfor about a year, and writerMark Waidand artistsSkyler PatridgeandIvan Plascenciahave updated and redefined the adventures of Superman when he was a boy for a new millennium. “Mission Failure” concludes a team-up arc between Superboy and a trio of time-travelling Justice League Unlimited members, a nice twist on the familiar ‘superheroic friends visiting from the future’ Superboy story that also serves to tie the past-set series into what’s going on in the present day.
Waid, Patridge, and Plascencia wrap things up nicely, with Waid peppering in heroic moments for a temporarily unpowered Boy of Steel as well as a few fun twists along the way. Patridge’s work is loose and energetic, fitting the tone and capturing the youthful energy of the character wonderfully, and Plascencia’s colors complement the linework perfectly. Waid is joined in the second half of the story by artistRyan Sookfor an eight-page journey through the timestream, and a preview for Superboy of his life to come. It’s an entertaining retrospective on Superman’s career, appropriate for this milestone issue, and it creates a nice sense of time passing as the heroes travel through the time stream. It also bridges the gap between the ending of this story and the beginning of the next one.
That next story sees Superboy’s adventure collide with the return of Superman in “Superman Meets Superboy,” fromSupermanseries writerJoshua Williamsonand artistsDaniel SampereandAlejandro Sánchez. The story picks up whereSuperman Annual 2026: Year One Thousand, which comes out next week, leaves off. Without the context of whatever happens in that issue, the triumphant return of Superman in this issue ends up feeling a little anticlimactic, sort of an ‘Oh okay, now he’s back’ without knowing what he went through to get there. Kind of a letdown, but there are some nice moments between Superman and both Booster Gold and his younger self to give these 10 pages the depth that we know Williamson is capable of. Sampere and Sánchez make it look fantastic, though.
SupergirlscribeSophie Campbellis joined bySupermanartistsDan MoraandTamra Bonvillainfor the issue’s third tale, “Game Night,” an 8-page story that brings the remaining Superboys – Jon Kent, Conner Kent, and Superboy-Prime – together, along with Supergirl and Thundergirl, under Lois Lane’s roof. This one is lighter in tone than what’s come before it, and presents a nice change of pace from the sci-fi action that precedes it. Campbell’s scripting is excellent as always, weaving in exposition about what’s been going on in the other Super-titles cleanly. The arrival of Superboy-Prime and Conner’s reaction to it are appropriately dramatic, and Campbell sets up the conflict between the two of them well. Mora and Bonvillain get a chance to show off their characterization and storytelling on this story, with quieter character work compared to their usual big action on other books (though a team-up sequence with Krypto and Tasmanian Devil trying to tame a giant-sized Streaky pops off the page with incredible energy and chaos).
The issue’s final story, “End of Reign,” is from theSuperman Unlimitedteam of writerDan Slottand artistsLucas MeyerandGiuliano Peratelli. This story, the only Superboy-less tale of the issue, serves as a prelude to the next big Superman title crossover,Kingdom of Zod. Slott establishes the basics of the El Caldero plotline for newcomers economically, and shows for existing readers how everything inUnlimitedhas been leading to this moment. Meyer and Peratelli’s artwork is solid, Meyer’s clean linework embellished nicely by Peratelli’s colors. This story’s mostl setup for what’s to come, but it’s accomplished well, and it recontextualizes El Caldero in an interesting way.
OverallAction Comics#1100 is an entertaining package of Superman family stories. All of the creators behind the regular Super-titles get a chance to play, and they show off their individual strengths well. Between this book and this week’sSuperman#40 (which I suggest you read before reading this one, as that issue dovetails nicely into the “Game Night” segment of this issue), the “Reign of the Superboys” comes to a satisfying end.
Final Verdict:BUY.
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